Electronic data cables are used in modern communication systems to carry voice and data signals between transmitters and receivers. Electronic data cables typically consist of a number of twisted pairs of insulated copper conductors held together as a cable in a common insulating jacket. Each twisted pair of conductors is used to carry a single stream of information. The two conductors are twisted together, at a certain twist rate, so that any external electromagnetic fields tend to influence the two conductors equally, thus a twisted pair is able to cancel much crosstalk (XT) caused by electromagnetic coupling from external sources. In a cable, adjacent twisted pairs are typically twisted at different twist rates so that each pair is still exposed to alternating lengths of the two conductors of its neighbouring pair. If all twist rates were the same, then one wire of a twisted pair would approximately be the same distance from one of the wires of its neighbouring twisted pair, thus allowing the first wire to constantly have the same electromagnetic coupling from a single wire of its neighbour along the wire length. Using different twist rates in one cable reduces crosstalk between twisted pairs.
High bandwidth communication systems may require a number of cables to be routed together in a cable bundle. When two lengths of cable are bundled in parallel, twisted pairs in neighbouring cables may have equal twist rates, and thus crosstalk (unbalanced electromagnetic coupling) between twisted pairs with the same twist rate, carrying different signals, will be more likely to occur than between twisted pairs in each cable. Electromagnetic coupling of signals between twisted pairs in adjacent cables is referred to as alien crosstalk (AXT).
Cable managers are used to locate ends of the cables in a cable bundle in fixed positions for presentation to corresponding connection positions of a connector block arranged in a communications equipment rack. Cable managers have previously included a plurality of channels, each being shaped to at least partially receive a corresponding terminal end of a cable. The plurality of channels diverge from a common point on the cable manager that is remote from the connector block. The channels fan out from the common point towards the corresponding connection positions of the connector block coupled thereto. The cable manager may allow undesirable levels of alien crosstalk between conductors of different cables for high bandwidth communication due to undesirable placement of the cables.
It is desirable to address one or more of the above-described difficulties, or at least provide a useful alternative.